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Officials and dignitaries turn the ceremonial first shovels of dirt at the groundbreaking for the new Amazon fulfillment center in the Raleigh area of Memphis on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, center, and Bob Rolfe, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, right, at the groundbreaking for the new Amazon fulfillment center in the Raleigh area of Memphis on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal

Officials and dignitaries line up prior to turning the ceremonial first shovels of dirt at the groundbreaking for the new Amazon fulfillment center in the Raleigh area of Memphis on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal

Bob Rolfe, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, speaks at the groundbreaking for the new Amazon fulfillment center in the Raleigh area of Memphis on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal

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Amazon’s under-construction fulfillment center in Memphis will help its shipping speeds in the area, an Amazon official said Monday, as the company continues to expand its logistics capabilities.

“The beauty about having one right now, right here in Memphis, is your (Amazon) Prime service will be better than, let’s say, a city that doesn’t have a fulfillment center,” said Robert Packett, Amazon’s regional director of operations for the Southeast.

How close a customer is to a fulfillment center factors into how fast shipping occurs, Packett said. A two-day shipment in an area without a center may be reduced to next-day or same-day service in a city with a center, he said.

Amazon’s transportation costs have skyrocketed due to the one-day shipping push. The company spent more than $9.6 billion in shipping in its most recently reported quarter, up 46% from the year-before quarter.

“Customers love the transition of Prime from two days to one day — they’ve already ordered billions of items with free one-day delivery this year,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement in October. “It’s a big investment, and it’s the right long-term decision for customers.”

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Amazon Regional Director of Operations Robert Packett speaks Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Amazon fulfillment center in Memphis.(Photo: Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal)

How the fulfillment center works

The 855,000-square-foot facility will be Amazon’s sixth fulfillment center in Tennessee, but the first in the state to use Amazon Robotics technology for smaller customer items.

Hundreds of thousands of items can be shipped daily out of these fulfillment centers, Packett said. The Raleigh-area facility will fulfill orders for smaller items such as electronics and books.

“Usually things under 18 inches long,” Packett said.

The small items will be stored on robotic shelving that can travel to Amazon employees picking out customer orders, he said. With the product going directly to the employees via robots, it reduces the amount of walking the pickers have to do, he said.

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An Amazon robot sits on display Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Amazon fulfillment center in Memphis.(Photo: Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal)

“They’ll pick the item, send it to a packer, they’ll pack the item with multiple quality checks along the way, they’ll put it on a truck, and then that goes to a sortation center,” Packett said.

The sortation center could be an external company’s or one of Amazon’s own, he said. The order is then shipped to the customer.

Amazon plans on MEM routes

To fulfill more of the company’s next-day and same-day delivery promises, Amazon is also planning lanes and routes out of Memphis International Airport for its Amazon Air cargo airline, Packett said.

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Workers take down a banner Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, after a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Amazon fulfillment center in Memphis.(Photo: Max Gersh / The Commercial Appeal)

“There’s going to be individuals in California buying a product that is made by a local business here that they can’t get out there,” Packett said. “The only way we can fulfill that promise in a timely manner is to get it on an aircraft.”

Amazon has not yet approached Memphis International Airport about launching a cargo operation there, but the airport is “open to any discussions that lead to additional cargo growth,” said airport spokesman Glen Thomas.

Amazon still leans on UPS often for shipping, but FedEx ended its Express and Ground contracts with the e-commerce giant in 2019, saying it wanted to serve the wider online shopping market.

Max Garland covers FedEx, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @MaxGarlandTypes.